Israel Becomes the First Middle-East Country
with Merchants Accepting Alipay to Welcome Chinese Tourists

Diamond Mines, Caprice, Ahava cosmetics and others are among the
first businesses in the Middle East to offer instore payments with
Alipay’s digital wallet.

January 24, 2018 08:54 AM Eastern Standard Time

TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Israel Credit Card (ICC, CAL) and OneBill have announced they will be
cooperating with Chinese payment market leader Alipay to facilitate
payments for Chinese visitors to Israel.

The availability of Alipay means Israel becomes the first country in the
Middle East in which it can be used for instore payments. This follows
Alipay’s extensive international expansion in recent years. The service
is available for Chinese tourists and business travelers visiting Israel.

Israeli businesses are showing great interest in the economic benefits
of Chinese tourism, and many have already announced they will enable
payments through Alipay. National Airline El-Al and James Richardson
Duty Free chain stores will soon accept Alipay, with Diamond Mines
prestigious jewelry chain stores launching Alipay powered payments last
week.

According to information received from the Ministry of Tourism and the
Israel-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the volume of Chinese arrivals to
Israel increased 45% year-on-year in 2017. Last year, over 123,000
Chinese tourists visited Israel. The typical Chinese tourist visits
Israel for an average period of 9 days, during which each tourist spends
approximately $300 daily.

Mr. Doron Sapir, CEO of CAL said "The significant increase in
Chinese tourism made us realize that we had to move quickly, and in less
than six months we are announcing today the launch of Alipay’s wallet
platform in Israel. This alliance with the leading global brand Alipay
constitutes a significant step forward in the credit sector, which will
increase clientele for Israeli businesses and expose them to a new
market."

“Our users are travelling to Israel to see the unique heritage of this
country, enjoy local experiences, make lifetime memories and bring home
high quality local products,” said Ms Li Wang, Head of EMEA at Alipay.
“Chinese travelers are seeking to travel and pay with only their mobile
phone when they are abroad - just as they do when they are in China. So
we are excited to see our partners bringing Alipay to the Middle East
for Israeli experiences, local shops and in-flight payments.”

About ICC- Israel Credit Card

ICC is owned by Israel Discount Bank (71.8%) and the First International
Bank of Israel (28.2%). Cal issues and settles Visa, MasterCard, and
Diners (issued exclusively in Israel by ICC) credit cards, and provides
a wide range of issuing and clearing services, as well as payment
solutions, to 2.4 million cards and businesses.

About Alipay

Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world’s largest
mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently
has over 520 million active users and over 200 domestic financial
institution partners. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a
lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie
tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase
wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to
online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both
inside and outside of China. Over 40 million brick-and-mortar merchants
now accept Alipay across China. Alipay’s in-store payment service covers
more than 35 countries across the world, and tax reimbursement via
Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions. Alipay works with over
250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to
enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and
overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites.
Alipay currently supports 27 currencies.

About Ant Financial

Ant Financial Services Group is focused on serving small and micro
enterprises, as well as individuals. Ant Financial is dedicated to
bringing the world more equal opportunities through building a
technology-driven open ecosystem and working with other financial
institutions to support the future financial needs of society.
Businesses operated by Ant Financial Services Group include Alipay, Ant
Fortune, Zhima Credit and MYbank. For more information on Ant Financial,
please visit our website at www.antgroup.com
or follow us on Twitter @AntFinancial.